From the recording Nix
Lyrics
I was raised in the downlands by my mother
And the travelling man who took my father's place
Ere I wanted for the body and the bones of the story
I knew I was to be - man of a thousand days
In the meadow did the vision of a country girl arrest me
Had my spirit fly within her boundless grace
And I sang to her of how her beauty held me there
And possessed me
Yet I had to leave - man of a thousand days
Fortune led me on into the city
Where I tried in understanding all of fate
Through distraction left and right I kept on playing
To ease the weight on the soul
Of the man of a thousand days
Summoned to perform at royal court and palace
The Queen had eyes to see my simple ways
But my heart was bound within that downland meadow
Now I mark my time in the dungeon
Man of a thousand days
Through the fleeting joys of love and every other
You must know the hands of time can not be stayed
Let my spirit roam those downlands and roam no further
At the end and as ever - man of a thousand days